Kingdom Hearts: Keymasters and Gatekeepers
by MasterCaedus
Summary: Long after the defeat of Xehanort, the World is finally at peace. The new, merged world of Destiny Garden houses the survivors of Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands. But Sora and Riku are gone, killed by a dark Keyblade master. Worse, everyone forgot the other worlds. Kairi and Ansem/Diz are planning something to bring a Keyblade master back, or is the odd Voon too late to help?
1. Chapter 1

**Voon**

The young man awoke in a daze, surrounded by blackness. His head throbbed and his heart ached. _The Darkness is coming... choose your fate..._ a voice called quietly from the shadows, almost in a whisper. The young man struggled to his feet and looked around. He was standing on a large green platform, blank but for the faint outline of a heart. Suddenly, three pedestals appeared in flashes of light bright enough that the boy had to shield his eyes. _Choose..._

The young man looked at each of the pedestals and what they held up: a blue and silver sword, a red and black shield, and a yellow and blue staff, each adorned with the shape of three circles interlocked. The boy quickly made his choice, and the three pedestals disappeared from the platform. _Prepare for the Darkness with the powers of your Light..._ the voice called again. The young man brought one hand up into a fighting position and his weapon arm down to his right side. He felt the weapon disappear. When he glanced down, he saw that the weapon had been replaced by a large, gold and silver key with the same interlocked circles attached to the base by a chain. He stared with puzzlement at it for a moment, then returned his gaze to the platform.

He gasped and took a half step back as black, evil looking creatures peeled themselves from the ground. He regained his composure quickly and advanced toward the creatures, swinging the key – K_eyblade – _ as he went. With dull thuds the Keyblade collided with the creatures – _Shadows_ – and they dissolved into the darkness that they were composed of. The young man hit the last creature calmly and twirled the Keyblade in one hand. When finished, he placed it on his shoulder and froze. That seemed... familiar, even though he had never done it before.

_Shadows grow as you reach for the light... take care that searching for Light is not more important than the Light itself, or Shadow may overtake even you..._ the voice called out again. The young man turned, looking for the origin of the voice. Then he looked down and saw his own shadow staring with yellow eyes at him. It peeled itself off of the platform as well, growing exponentially in size as it did until it towered over the young man.

The young man raised the key in front of his body and growled aggressively at the creature, who looked down slowly at him – as if he was an ant. It moved its massive foot to crush him and brought it down swiftly with all its might onto his tiny form –

Then the creature recoiled backwards, a dazzling light forcing it away. _But your light can still protect you from your darkness should you remember it_. The young man roared a battlecry and rushed at the creature, climbing its massive limbs to reach its yellow, emotionless eyes. With a scream, the young man jabbed the Keyblade directly into the yellow orb and watched as the monster writhed in pain. He held on tightly to the key, the thrashing of the monster nearly throwing him into the abyss around the platform. Then the creature tumbled backwards into the abyss, dragging the young man with it...

Voon jumped up from his sleep, sweat pouring down his brow. He wiped his brown bangs away from his blue eyes and shook his head. He was in his room, not being attacked by a giant monster made out of darkness. He threw his legs over the side of his bed and yawned. _What a weird dream_, he thought to himself. He stood up and took a shower before he threw on a shirt – a red base with white sleeves – and jeans. He rushed down the stairs with a grin and turned on the television.

"Monster sightings resumed in New Destiny this week as three more people – with seemingly no connection – disappeared. Police believe this to be the work of a rabid animal who somehow escaped into the city," the news anchor – a middle-aged man with graying hair – said. "Now for the weather..."

"Lame," Voon said, changing the channel to a fantasy movie with a swordfighting knight fighting a dragon to save a girl.

"It's not lame," his mother said as she walked in. Her pink-brown hair bounced as she walked. "It's worrisome. No one remembers anymore." She sat down at the table and breakfast appeared before her.

"No one remembers what?" Voon asked. "Is this about Dad?"

"No. Well, yes," his mother replied. It was just Voon and his mother living in the house, his dad had disappeared a little bit before Voon had been born. "But not in a bad way. Just... sad that people already have forgotten what happened to protect them."

Voon listened quietly, taking it all in before shrugging and returning to the television. The knight slashed his sword and shouted, "You'll never win, Heartless!"

Voon surged to his feet. "What?"

"I'm sad no one remembers what happened," Voon's mother replied.

"No, the knight. Did he just say... Heartless?" the boy asked. He turned to his mother, whose face was ashen.

"No. You must have been mistaken." She stood up and left without having once touched her food.

_What's wrong with her?_ Voon asked himself. He sat down and shook his head. What was up with him? The word Heartless and he had freaked out almost as badly as it had his mother. But what – or who – was Heartless? His mind flashed to the dark things from his dream the night before. Could those... Shadows have been Heartless? Voon looked down at his right hand. Could it have something to do with the mysterious weapon he had dreamed of the night before as well. This "Keyblade?"

**Kairi**

Voon let his hands fall between his legs and he sighed out a long breath as the movie continued. What could it have meant?

"And you say the subject has displayed knowledge of the Heartless?" the shadowy man asked. The woman didn't reply. "Kairi, you need to tell me now."

"Ansem, look, I'm not sure. He heard the word Heartless after a news report about disappearances in New Destiny and seemed shocked when he 'heard' it. He might know something without actually knowing anything," Kairi responded. She tossed her pink-brown hair over her ear and frowned. "But if he doesn't know as much as he should, then it means he isn't ready."

"Kairi," the old man said softly, "there might not be a time when he is ready. The threat is coming faster, however, and my defenses are barely slowing it down. If he is a Keyblade wielder like his progenitors, he may be needed now."

Kairi closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "I just don't know if I can lose him again, Ansem."

"The World cannot risk you keeping him. He leaves tomorrow for Disney Castle."

Kairi looked up at the screen that showed Ansem. "But – he – you're right. I'll tell him he's leaving tomorrow."

Ansem nodded. "I am glad you listened to reason, Kairi. Riku would be proud you did."

"And what of Sora?" Kairi asked tearfully.

"He would be proud you sacrificed your happiness for the people he sacrificed everything for."

Kairi was silenced by the truth of the answer. She could no more hold onto Voon than she could hold onto the late Riku and Sora. "I – Y-"

"Goodbye, Kairi. It is for the best," Ansem assured her before cutting off communications.

"I hope so," Kairi muttered to herself.

**Voon**

Voon yawned again and woke up from his carefree nap. Summer vacation rocked. He sat up and yawned again before shaking off the sleep. He walked outside the house and down the street to a park. "Voon!" two voices shouted. Voon smiled and ran towards his two best friends, Eng and Gai. The three of them were all seventeen and getting ready for their last year of high school. But until then, they were just three goofy boys.

"I'll race you guys to the bay," Eng said. He pointed to the shoreline a mile or two away.

"To the islet off the coast," Gai replied, pointing to three rowboats in the bay.

Voon snorted. "If we're racing, we're racing to the spot," he said, eliciting smiles from his friends. The spot was an old treehouse older than their parents on an island just off from the mainland. Some legends said that the island was older than the mainland itself. Whatever the truth, the island was a haven for all kids of the shore of Radiant Garden's city New Destiny.

"GO!" Voon shouted, rushing away from his friends, who were startled by the suddeness of the start. After a few seconds they rushed after him, always a few steps behind.

The three quickly reached the shore and each jumped into their boat. Voon was slightly in the lead and began to pull away from his friends as he rowed. "Damn, Voon, you're faster than usual," Gai taunted, only half kidding. Voon thought so too – something was different today. He was faster, stronger. He didn't understand it, but it was helping him win, so who cared?

The boats hit the sand and Voon rushed across the beach, running up stairs and across the pathway to a small tunnel, barely large enough to crawl into. He got down on all fours and scurried through, overjoyed to be the winner – for once.

The room was much the same as it had been when they had left it last – it was a dark cave with an odd brown door at the back and ancient chalk drawings all across the walls. A few looked... very familiar to Voon. He had seen them dozens of times before then, but they looked even more familiar. As if he had helped to draw them. He shook that crazy idea from his head and grinned while he waited for his friends. He turned towards the door.

"So you're the One," a voice suddenly said. Voon turned quickly, not knowing what to expect. "Relax I'm not going to hurt you. Well, not right now."

Voon backed away from the source of the voice – a black armored figure holding a... Keyblade!? "I see you know about these," the figure said, lifting his Keyblade up slightly. "They're – ah – immensely powerful. And smart."

"I'm more interested in who you are," Voon replied, surprised he meant it.

The figure shrugged. "In due time, my friend. For now, I'm wondering who_ you_ are. Your aura is so... similar. As if I've felt it before. Yet... it is thoroughly unique in all the worlds. Even this home of a Princess, The Gatekeeper, and The Keymaster."

"The – the who? The Gatekeeper and Keymaster? What are you talking about?" Voon asked.

The figure shrugged again and the blade disappeared. "Well, you humored me with listening, so I might as well tell you. The man grabbed his helmet – which had a large black visor and two key shaped horns reaching from it that matched his Keyblade – and took it off. It was a young man – probably no older than 25 – with purple hued hair and matching eyes. "The Gatekeeper, the Princess, and the Keymaster. The ones who stopped the Cataclysms of Kingdom Hearts. Their birth worlds were merged as a result of their defeat of one enemy or another. Honestly, I'm surprised you don't know. It was only about twenty four years ago."

"Cataclysms of... Kingdom Hearts?" Voon asked. His mind flashed to a young man with brown, spiky hair cutting down an old man, both using Keyblades. "Xehanort?"

"Ah, so you do remember," the other man said. "Good."

"Who is Xehanort?" Voon asked.

"Who are you talking to?" Eng asked. Voon turned his head quickly to his friend, who was staring quizzically at Voon as Gai arrived.

"I – I – him!" Voon said, turning to point at – the man who was no longer there.

"Riiiight," Eng mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Someone's acting a bit more loony than usual."

"I am n – maybe. I don't know, something just seems... wrong today. Like something terrible is coming, and I've seen it before," Voon said.

"Okay, Mr. Psychic. We're gonna duel while you get the nutties out. Have fun, we'll be on the beach," Gai said, turning and crawling out, Eng right behind him.

"He was just right there," Voon murmured to himself, wondering where the black armored man could have gone. He shook his head. He must have imagined it.

"What!?" Voon heard come from outside. His friends were in trouble! Voon ducked down and crawled through the tunnel, the words Kingdom Hearts still ringing in his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Voon floated through the dark void in utter silence and despair, his only company the Keyblade he clutched tightly in his right hand. Everything he knew was gone. His friends, beset upon by shadows, had died in a flash of red light. His mother had been gone when he arrived at his house. The city had crumbled into a black vortex of dark power that killed any alive who touched it – any, that is, except for Voon. Heartless had sprung from the black hole, attacking any who remained on the ground, honing in on Voon especially. The Keyblade from his dream had appeared then, surprising Voon and halting the Heartless for a moment. A moment long enough for Voon to slice a hole in their line and try to find shelter. The currents of Darkness had picked him up long before he could have gotten anywhere.

The Darkness felt odd to Voon. On the one hand it held and guided his body like an old friend, protecting and sheltering him. Yet his every movement repulsed the darkness like it was his ancient enemy, shrinking away as his legs or arms twitched. Then he felt another presence. The darkness slowly but surely gave way to a blinding, yet soothing light that accepted him fully, drawing him deeper into it. He wanted to stay there forever. "No... need to find... Mom..."

Then everything went black.

"He's waking up!"

Voon groaned and forced himself into a sitting position. "Wha? Where am I?" he mumbled. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was laying in a bed surrounded by a group of weary looking people. There was a severe looking woman with pink hair and armor-like clothes; a black haired and regal looking man in dark clothes; and an older man – probably around Voon's mother's age – with spiky, graying hair.

"Hello," the woman said. "I'm Lightning. The guy in black is Noctis. The old guy is Tidus."

Voon looked around. "But _where_ am I?" he asked.

"Somewhere the Heartless can't get you," Noctis replied. He smiled slightly and gingerly held Voon's Keyblade. "Somewhere that the Kingdom Key is spoken of in hushed whispers."

"The... Kingdom Key?" Voon asked.

Tidus sighed and began to speak. "A long time ago, a friend of mine named Sora got a Keyblade. The Kingdom Key. With it he saved the World from the Heartless countless times before he disappeared along with Riku. With both of them gone, there was no one to defend the World from the encroaching Darkness. World after world has disappeared into the night, heart after heart extinguished by the Heartless. Nobodies born into existence then killed by the Heartless around them. We're in Twilight Town, one of the few worlds safe – so far – from the Darkness."

Voon shook his head. "I don't get it. Worlds and Heartless and Nobodies? What does it have to do with me?"

"Nobody told you?" Lightning asked. She sighed and cradled the hilt of her sword tenderly. "I thought Ansem and Kairi would've found you and told you by now."

"How do you know my mom!?" Voon asked. His feet flew off the couch where he was laying and the Kingdom Key appeared in his hand with a flash of golden light.

"Your mother? That explains it, I suppose. She was afraid to lose you," Tidus said. "Only question that raises is whether you're Riku's or Sora's."

Voon sat down, shaking his head. Riku and Sora? The Kingdom Key? He looked over at the Keyblade – this Kingdom Key in his hand. He had already felt like his mother had been acting odd, and now he knew why. He also knew he was deeply out of his element. "We need to send word to the King. He should know that the Keyblade Master is safe," Noctis said, breaking Voon from his reverie.

"What King?" Voon asked. "He knows all about... this, too?"

"King Mort Fieldmouse. Yeah, he knows all about the Heartless. His uncle fought them with Sora, a long time ago. He's excited to meet you," Lightning explained. "His family uses a Keyblade passed down from the old King who stole it from the Realm of Darkness."

Voon cocked his head to the side. If they already had a "Keyblade Master" then there was no need for him, right? "So, why am I here?"

Tidus shook his head and chuckled. "You're a Keyblade Master. And if you're Kairi's kid that means you could be a lot more powerful than any other Keyblade Master out there." Voon shook his head and sighed. "Look, Kid, it means that, if you don't fight to protect them, everyone – and I mean everyone – is dead. A lot of responsibility for a kid. You can't be more than, what, seventeen? But Sora was younger than you were when he started saving the World. You can help people, and you have a duty to."

Voon stared for a moment, then nodded his head. "I just want to find my mom. But if I help people along the way, fine."

"Now you sound like Sora," a lispy and high pitched voice came from the door. Voon turned to see... a short, old duck with a wooden staff twice his height and a hat almost as tall. There was a small pin shaped like the Kingdom Key's chain on his hat's base. "My name's Donald Duck." The short duck-like creature extended one hand to Voon.

"Uh..." Voon stared at the hand and scooted away on the bed.

The duck went ballistic. His face turned red and he began screaming words interspersed with gibberish. "Why you razafrazen kid! You should show some respect you frackataza! Wewewewew."

"H-yuck! He didn't mean anything by it Donald," another creature said as it came in. It was a giant dog dressed in a green, military-like suit. He also had a pin on his chest. He walked like he had no cares in the world. "He's just a kid, after all." The dog – who himself looked rather old – lifted the ancient looking duck kicking and screaming into the air. "Breathe, Donald, H-yuck!"

"Grr... Fine, Goofy," Donald Duck replied. He crossed his arms and glared at the wall.

"Say sorry, Donald," Goofy demanded softly.

Donald turned to Voon and mumbled something. "Louder, Donald."

"I'm sorry," the Duck said painfully – almost spitting the words out. He looked up at Goofy. "Happy?"

Goofy nodded... well, in a goofy manner and turned to Voon. "Dontcha mind Donald. He's just a little... uh..."

"High strung?" Voon suggested, eliciting another growl form the duck.

"H-yuck! That's just right. But Donald never did get your name."

"Uh – I'm Voon," the boy replied. He couldn't shake a feeling that the duck and dog – Donald and Goofy – looked oddly familiar. But it's not like he could have seen them before, right?

"Well, Voon, we're here to take ya ta King Mort. He and a few others are expectin' ya, right, Donald?" Goofy said, turning to his friend.

"Yes," Donald warbled. He uncrossed his arms and sighed. "We need to get you to the Gummi Ship."

"H-yuck! ASAP!" Goofy said, "H-yucking" at himself while he said it.

"What's a Gummi Ship?" Voon asked, turning to Tidus.

The older man chuckled. "Not long ago I asked the same question. Now I can build em. They're ships designed to fly between worlds. With Gummi Pieces you can build any kinda ship, and this one can take you to Disney Castle faster than you'd believe. Well, as long as you smile."

"What?" Voon asked, looking quizzically at Tidus, who laughed in response.

"Ya gotta smile," Goofy said.

Voon looked down and put on a big grin. "Like... this!?" he asked, looking up at everyone.

The room was quiet for a moment, then everyone began laughing. "A lot like Sora," Goofy said between "h-yucks."

Voon stared at each person and felt uncontrollable laughter rising in his chest. He began to guffaw with the others, but then everything became quiet. "The ship's just over here," Tidus said, leading Voon, Donald, and Goofy to a red, plane-like ship that looked more like a toy than an actual space ship.

"Uh, that's gonna get us to another world?" Voon asked in disbelief.

He climbed into the central seat and shook his head. "Hold on to your butt, kid," Tidus said as the ship closed. "See ya soon."

Then the ship rocketed away, forcing Voon into his seat so hard that the air left his lungs. "Ga-ah!" he struggled. He pushed himself slowly forward and looked out of the cockpit window.

"Amazing, ain't it?" Goofy asked.

Voon nodded silently. There were innumerable worlds, each so different from the last. Each so different and separate. Yet there seemed to be something holding them together, keeping them as one. In the distance Voon could almost feel this force. "Kingdom Hearts," he muttered to himself, immediately knowing that was the name of the force. Of the Heart of Hearts.

"We'll be arriving soon," Donald said as the ship closed in on a world. There was a large, white castle... which they were about to crash into.

"AH!" Voon screamed as they approached the main doors... and landed softly inside. "AAAAAAAH!"

"You can stop screaming now," Donald told Voon irritably. Voon stopped and stared angrily after the duck.

The cockpit of the ship opened then and the three clambered out gingerly. There was a table with nineteen seats around it, twelve shrouded in Black and seven in pure White. One of the white seats was occupied by a small, black and white mouse. "Your king is actually a m-" Voon began to say to Donald and Goofy. "Of course he is."

"Donald! Goofy!" the small mouse shouted, waving the group over. Voon soon saw that every single seat was occupied, save four – two dark ones and two light ones. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

Voon followed Donald and goofy, staring at each of the Keyblade Masters – for Voon automatically knew that each one of them was a Keyblade Master – as he went. There was an older man – again, probably around his mom's age – who had grey hair intermixed with a fiery orange in a White seat. Three other White seats were occupied by a group – a man with brown hair, a woman with blue hair, and a younger man with blonde hair who each looked like they were younger than they actually seemed to be. The Dark seats were each occupied by shadowy and odd people. Voon noticed that the Dark and Light wielders became more light or dark the further from a central boundary they were. The people at the edges seemed almost... normal. Those at the extremes were bathed in glows of their respective element. Two of the empty seats were the most extreme, and the other two at the boundaries.

"You brought him! Well, let's find out where he is supposed to sit!"

"He has the Kingdom Key, King Mort," Goofy said quietly.

"WHAT!?" a voice shouted from the dark corner. There were roars of disapproval and approval coming from across the table.

"Quiet!" A squeaky yet powerful voice cried, immediately quieting the group. Another mouse – much older than Mort – walked into the room. His age made him slow and frail, yet he still commanded attention. "Let us see where the boy lies."

The table was quiet as the mouse walked over to Voon. "Hm... yes... Well, take this and we will see who you are." The mouse held out a thin cylinder of clear, dull material.

Voon reached for it. "What am I supposed to -" then the cylinder exploded. Mist erupted from its center, changing color and form as it went. Half of the mist became a light too bright to look at, and the rest became a dull gray.

"Well, that's different," Donald said. He turned to the mouse. "What does it mean, Mickey?"

Mickey put his hand on his chin. "I don't know, fellas. My best guess is that he doesn't know where he belongs. Or maybe..."

"Maybe what, Mickey?" Goofy asked.

Mickey Mouse was quiet. "Bring Huey and Max in here," he finally said, pointing to both Goofy and Donald. "Maybe a quest like Sora's is just what he needs."

Voon piped up. "Um, what kind of quest?"

"Well, as you can see, we are missing a few members. One of those who sits on the shadow council and a wielder of the light are... suspiciously absent," the younger man with blonde hair said. He looked familiar to Voon for some reason, like almost everyone else there. "You're going to find them."

"What? Me? I don't even know where to look!" Voon shouted. He turned to the table. "You all look like you know what you're doing more than I ever could!"

Mickey sighed. "That's not the point. You need to figure out who you are and where you fit with all of this. And you might find your mom while looking for these Keyblade Masters."

"How'd you know my mom's missing?"

The mouse shrugged and turned to walk out of the room. "The Heartless are, for the first time, chasing us all down. You'll have friends on your journey." Mickey waved his hand at a guard and the doors opened. A small duck in red wizarding outfit walked in, looking much more jovial and excited than Donald, alongside a lanky creature in green and black armor that could only be Goofy's son. "Meet Huey Duck and Max Goof, your team."


	3. Chapter 3

Huey and Max confused Voon. They were so different from their father figures that Voon almost doubted they were truly related. Max Goof was much more serious than his father, prone to sarcastic remarks and biting humor. Huey Duck was much more laid back than his "Unca Donald," as he called him, content to make jokes and smile rather than scream and curse when a small mistake was made.

The three of them were standing with Mickey and King Mort in the "Gummi Launch Bay," preparing to leave on their journey. "Now your first stop will be Mount Agrabah. We got a message from our friends there that something bad was going on. Heartless are appearing there in droves for the first time since Sora disappeared."

Chip and Dale – two old chipmunk Gummi engineers – were counting down for launch. "We're looking for a... Meri and an Umbra? A light and a dark key wielder who... what?" Voon asked.

"Meri disappeared looking for Umbra a few weeks ago. We're worried that whatever happened to him happened to her," Mort responded.

"Or Umbra happened," Mickey piped up gravely.

"3 – 2 – 1 BLASTOFF!" Dale screamed, and the ship rocketed forward through a small tunnel, the goodbyes of everyone else barely hitting the ears of those new heroes. Voon closed his eyes and struggled to keep a smile on his face that powered the ship.

"WOO HOO!" Huey quacked from Voon's left. "THIS IS SO FUN!"

Then the ship stopped. "What's wrong?" Mickey asked as a small screen popped up, showing his, Donald's, and Goofy's faces. "Our scanners say you've stopped."

I looked around, my smile fading. Next to me, Max was crossing his arms and scowling. "This is stupid!" he said angrily. He sighed and looked up through the viewport at the millions of worlds.

"H-yuck, Max, if you don't smile, the ship won't move, ya know that! Now, come on, just smile for me."

"No!"

"Come on son, just smile!"

"NO!"

The ship lurched sideways. Voon looked over at Max. "Could you smile!?"

"NO!"

"Max, Huey! No!" Mickey shouted as something began to go wrong. The ship shot sideways and spun. Voon's head hit a hard surface and his vision blacked out.

He awoke to a klaxon ringing. "What happened?" Huey asked, coming to at the same time. Voon looked around – the darkness outside the ship was infinite, smothering. Max was standing outside looking around.

Voon pointed over at Max. "Happy here freaked out and made the ship crash," he grumbled, pointing at the grouchy goof.

"Yeah, yeah, it's my fault," he replied. He pulled his shield from his back and strapped it onto his arm.

Voon shook his head. "It's fine. Smile next time. Where are we?"

Huey unstrapped himself and pressed a button on the front of the hip and a navicomputer popped up. "This says it's... Oh, no."

"'Oh, no, what?'" Max asked. "Couldn't a situation just for once be an 'Oh, yes!'"

Voon chuckled lightly at that and stood up. "I agree. But what does it say?"

Huey turned and looked out at the infinite darkness. "When the worlds fell to the Heartless the first time," he quacked, "the destroyed worlds formed their own Heartless. A world of pure shadow from which the Heartless spread, exponentially faster with the fall of each world. When Sora defeated Xehanort the first time and opened the Door to Kingdom Hearts, the worlds were restored. Later the worlds were connected by twos into single worlds. All of them, two hearts to slow down the monsters advance. If just one was ever locked, then the world would be safe. But a Keyblade wielder began to unlock them. Recreating the dark world."

"Umbra did this?" Voon asked as he stepped from the ship. The world looked like a barely contained scar, oozing pain and anger throughout the World. Voon almost swore that the wind was a scream of unending pain.

Max nodded in reply. "We're certain it was him. If he isn't stopped soon, everything will disappear!"

Voon walked up to them and began to speak, but quickly turned around and summoned the Kingdom Key to his hand. "Something is... out there," he said. He peered through the black and purple shadows, seeing nothing. Then – "Yellow eyes!"

A creature about twice Max's height with four arms appeared out of nowhere, nearing the three adventurers. "What's going on?" Voon shouted as the creature – which looked like a combination of a white and black knight with a crossed out heart insignia on its chest – slammed its foot down and summoned other, smaller creatures. The small creatures were also knight-like, covered in gray armor and the same heart insignia. The creatures began to spin and jump around, slamming into Voon and the others.

"OW! REFLEGA!" Huey shouted. The creatures suddenly stopped jumping as a clear, diamond like wall appeared around Max, Huey, and Voon. "That should give us some time. Not too much, though, so we need a plan."

Max slammed his shield onto his arm. "You sound like my dad. 'Patience, Maxxey. H-Yuck!'" Max growled sarcastically. Voon stared out of the wall and tried to ignore the argument erupting behind him.

The gray creatures were huddled around the black and white one, trying to shield it. Black tethers connected the "Knights" with their "Lord." Voon thought for a moment then turned to his new – friends was such a strong word... acquaintances? "Shut it. Those Knights out there are connected to the big one. Donald, use Thundaga on the tethers; Goofy, get me close to the bigger one."

Huey and Max were silent. "Did you just call us Donald and Goofy?"

"No, I – What? I... what?"

Huey shrugged. "The plan sounds good. We can wonder about this later." He lifted his red wand. "Ready?"

Voon nodded and the barrier fell, allowing the Knights to leap and twist violently at the heroes. Max used his shield and batted them away from Voon, who followed behind, ready to attack the Lord – how did he know the name? – at a moment's notice. Huey screeched out a word that_ sounded _like Thunder, but Voon wasn't quite sure. Lightning rained down on the Knights and severed the bonds with the Lord. The Knights quickly began to lose color and fade into the Darkness, but not quickly enough to prevent any more attacks on Max and Voon.

Max battered another Heartless away, summoning a faint, rose heart as it disappeared, and turned to Voon. "We're close enough, now take that thing out. We'll keep you covered when it summons more."

Voon nodded and ducked past Max's shield and stopped, Keyblade at the ready. "Hey, ugly! Over here!" he shouted, drawing the creature's attention. When its eyes fell on him it went into a frenzy, ready to destroy the Keyblade Master. Voon was in for the fight of his life – so far.

The creature looked oddly familiar to Voon. As if – The creature brought one arm quickly down, slamming it into Voon's upraised Keyblade. The creature warbled and roared, bringing each of its four arms down quickly onto the Keyblade. Voon, somehow, resisted the large monster's assault. As the monster brought all of its arms down for another attack, Voon dodged forward, rolling beneath the monster's legs. He swiped the Kingdom Key quickly left and right, making it roar in pain. It fell to its knees. Voon jumped up its back, swinging upward on the spikes of its "armor."

_How am I doing this!?_ He asked himself as he jumped up the last three spikes in one bound and twirled around the headspike like a gymnast. As air flew through across his face he laughed. _Who cares?_

He brought himself to a halt and put his feet down on the monster's head. The creature was beginning to recover from having its legs taken out. With an angry grin Voon summoned the Keyblade to his hand and plunged the blue and red blade into the creature's head. The Lord Heartless shrieked in pain and threw Voon away from it in its writhing. Voon hit the ground and tumbled to his feet, sticking the Keyblade into the ground to slow his skid. The creature froze in its agony and light erupted from the wound dealt to it by the Keyblade until a large heart of deep red flew away from its head.

"Well that wasn't _too hard_," Voon joked, putting the Keyblade on his shoulder.

"How did you –? That's not the Kingdom Key!" Huey quacked. He pointed at Voon's shoulder; Voon instinctively followed Huey's finger.

Voon jumped and dropped the Keyblade. Huey was right: the silver and gold of the Kingdom Key had been replaced by a much different Keyblade. The main body was a red and navy demon wing with a cruel eye surrounded by shadow in the crossguard. The handguard and key's teeth were angelic wings that flared with light and cast off the shadow. The keychain was a heartless symbol connected to the hilt by a series of cruel looking X's.

Max and Huey stared at the Keyblade on the ground. "The Way to Dawn..." Voon said, startling all three of them. Again: how had Voon known that?


	4. Chapter 4

Voon had placed the new Keyblade into the ground, tip first, and waited. Max and Huey were arguing about what their next move should be. "Obviously we need to alert King Mort to this new development!" Huey shouted at Max.

Max shook his head. "It doesn't change what our mission is. The Way to Dawn is one of the moderate seat Keyblades and still should do for our task. If we find Umbra and Meri the seats of the council will be in balance. We should press on."

Huey shook his head. "This is unprecedented! Mort, Mickey, and Unca Donald should be notified immediately! The scholarly and practical information that could be gleamed from this -"

"It's a Key_blade_. Each one of them bashes Heartless' metaphorical skulls in! Who cares if it's the Kingdom Key or the Way to Dawn?"

Voon sighed and leaned on the Keyblade. "You're argument is wasting time," he said, interrupting Huey's pointed remark about the fundamental differences between Keyblades crafted for light and dark. "We need to find Meri, Umbra, and my mom. But we do need to contact the castle. I'm guessing that other gummi ships have crashed here before, and if we fix the ship we can get off this lifeless rock _and_ contact the King. Does that sound good?"

Huey and Max were quiet, their eyes met in a staring contest. "Fine!" they shouted at the same time.

"Good. I hate to see friends fight!" Voon said with a grin. There was a flash of light and the Keyblade had returned to its original form.

"But – but how?" Huey asked, looking between an also surprised Voon and the Kingdom Key with disbelief.

"It doesn't matter right now. We need to fix the ship and find Umbra. We can worry about everything else later," Max said. He pulled his shield from his back and began walking off towards a gummi graveyard. "I'll go this way. Huey'll go that way -" he pointed to left and behind him " – and Voon, go that way." Max again pointed to his right and behind him.

Voon nodded. "I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but... okay. I'll grab whatever I see."

With that the three separated for the time being.

**Max**

The entire gummi graveyard he was surveying had all the parts needed to fix the transmitter. Max sighed. _At lest Huey will shut up_, he thought to himself as he began to collect the radio pieces. He opened his knapsack and began to stuff the pieces in. Then he heard a shuffle behind him.

Max turned around as quickly as he could and readied his shield. "Who's there!?" he shouted. There was no answer. He shook it off as only a Shadow and returned to gathering.

As Max neared the final pieces, the Shadow returned. Max sighed in exasperation and tossed the shield at the source of the noise. It returned and he was confident he had destroyed the Heartless, for the time being. But then he looked at his shield. On the face, where once the sign of Disney stood, was a series of scratches in the shape of an Eye of Darkness. Max readied his shield again and closed his sack – _This'll have to do_, he thought as he sprinted back towards the ship.

He suddenly fell to the ground as a large metal object smacked into the backs of his knees. He skidded to a stop on his face, angrily thinking about how much he must have looked like his dad. "How disappointing," a voice said. Max sat up and prepared to throw his shield when he froze. Umbra. He was wearing his Keyblade armor, but had taken the helmet off. His once purple eyes were glowing a sickly yellow and his hair was a shade too white. "I thought for sure that the son of the great Goof would present more of a challenge."

Max growled and jumped to his feet. He began to charge the Keyblade wielder, who disappeared into thin air and reappeared behind Max, holding the teeth of the Keyblade to the young Goof's neck. "I wouldn't try anything again, little Goof. I've got you right where I want you," Umbra said. Max could see a disturbing grin on the man's face. "And with that comes the Keymaster's compliance. It won't be long now."

"The what?" Max asked, stalling.

"Oh, no, little Goof. I'm not telling you anything, yet. That's only between me and... well, my business associate," he said casting a powerful Stopza spell on the Goof, whose consciousness disappeared with time.

**Huey**

"Stupid Max. Thinks he knows better than me. Me! Who is the Wizard here? Hmph," Huey growled, kicking at the dust of the darkness beneath his feet as he returned to the gummi ship. He held his staff in his right hand, already having taken care of two bands of Shadows on his way to the gummi graveyard. "Mort needs to know about Voon's Keyblade!"

"What about the boy's Keyblade?" Umbra asked, matching strides with Huey.

"It – Hey!" Huey turned and shot a Firaga at the armored man, who quickly reflected the spell at its originator. The duck flew back a few feet and rolled until he stopped on his chest.

"What's that delightful smell – Oh, look... roast duck," the dark Keyblade user laughed. He raised his dark keyblade to Huey's face. "Come quietly."

The duck grimaced and cast a quick smokescreen spell, running off. "That won't work," Umbra said as Huey ran right into his leg. Huey used another spell to send the wielder flying into space and ran off again towards the ship. "Nuh-uh." Umbra said as he grabbed the collar of Huey's robes.

"LEMME GO!" the duck screamed, futily thrashing his arms and legs, trying to hit the man holding him in place.

"Don't worry. I'll be letting you go with the little Goof soon. Once I am sure I have what I want," the dark man said. Then the world around Huey ceased to be.

**Voon**

Voon had been at the gummi ship for hours, and still Max and Huey were nowhere to be seen. Voon had tried tinkering with the gummi ship and was surprised to find many of his pieces were the ones necessary to fix key parts of the ship. He even found that the radio and engines were only missing one or two key parts. "I guess I'm a natural at this!" he said to himself with a grin. He stood up and grabbed the Kingdom Key from its resting place next to him.

He turned around and sat on the wing of the ship, twirling the Keyblade in his hands. "Where are they?"

"Who?" a voice behind him asked. Voon turned around quickly and was about to throw the Keyblade at his assaulter – but stopped when he saw a young woman. Her blonde hair fell to one shoulder where a single armor piece rested and the rest of her hair lay just beneath her chin. Her deep brown eyes conveyed a warmth that Voon had not seen since his mother.

"I – uh... Hi there," Voon said, glad for the inherent darkness of the land. The girl couldn't see his deep red blushing cheeks. "I lost my friends – their names are -"

"Is that the Kingdom Key? But... Sora's dead! What did you do!?" The girl summoned a keyblade – a red and silver key with teeth shaped like the Kingdom Key – and began to charge at Voon. He noticed her eyes were suddenly much harder.

"AH! NO! I – I –" Voon screamed as he dodged the girl's impossibly fast strikes. She brought the Keyblade down at his head. "ENOUGH!" He swiped the Way upward and the girl's Keyblade flew through the air and buried itself in the ground thirty yards away.

The girl stared at the Keyblade, mesmerized. "That's not what you were just holding," she said. She knelt down and studied Voon's Keyblade. She stood up quickly. "I'm Meri. Who are you?"

"I – uh – Voon. Wait! You're Meri? King Mort sent us to look for you!" Voon said, dismissing the Keyblade and holding out his hand.

"Us?" she asked interested. "There's only you."

"No – I was sent with Max Goof and Huey Duck. Our ship crashed when -"

"When Max was a sourpuss? Yeah, he's always been like that. I'm guessing he decided you should all split up to look for pieces, right?" Meri joked.

"Y-yeah. And now they're just... gone. I have no idea what happened. I'm beginning to worry," he said. He looked around. "This seems like a pretty dangerous place."

He turned around. "So tell me about yourself."

She laughed and coyly replied, "There's not much to tell."

"Oh, come on. Where are you from?"

"Ha... uh... Twilight City – it, uhm, used to be Traverse and Twilight towns," she said. She grinned shyly. "It's been a while since anyone took interest."

"Thanks for telling me then," he said with a grin. Then he turned and became serious. "But we really need to find Max and Huey so we can get back to the Castle and you can tell the King everything about Umbra."

"That's just it, Voon. Umbra's here. And if you're friends aren't back yet... well, it's a good bet that Umbra is the one who has them," Meri said. She placed a hand on her hip and sighed. "And I bet I know where he took them."

"Where!?" Voon asked excitedly.

"The remains of something that ended years ago. That ended when Xehanort was defeated. We're going to save your friends, Voon, but I need to know... what do you know about Destiny Islands?"

"Destiny Islands? Nothing. There's an islet where I'm from called Destiny Island, though. It's just off the mainland. And it's where all this started for me..." Voon said, sighing as he began to recall all that was lost. But then he grinned and bucked up. "And it's what I'm going to save!"

"So you're from New Destiny. That's a world that forgot all of this," she said. "But Destiny Islands is where New Destiny came from. Looks like you get to see home, after all."

"But the trek is long, dangerous, and we'll probably die?" Voon asked with a smile.

"Well it's not too far. The rest is right," Meri said with a smile. Voon blushed again and laughed, his voice cracking as he did.

"This way," she said, and she hit the armor on her right shoulder and, in a flash of light, armor appeared all over her body. It was eerily similar to the man from the island's armor, but with a few key differences. Where the man's had been dark and imposing, Meri's was white and silver, meant to convey peace. The armor ears on her head were angled back at a 45 degree angle and were a gold that stuck out from the armor. All across the body of the armor were simple, keyblade shaped designs that interlocked and formed moving chains. "Are you coming?"

He nodded and began to walk into the darkness. "No, you need to put on your armor," she said. She walked over to him and looked around his body. "Where's your activator?"

"I – uhm... activator?" he asked.

"Mickey sent you out without an armor? What was he thinking? Argh!" Meri screamed in exasperation. Finally, she sighed. "I guess I'll just have to hope your light is strong enough to resist the Darkness."

Then the two began to walk off. "So what do you do?"

"I'm on the council. I mediate between light and dark, what do you think I do?" Meri asked, a little annoyed by the question.

"Well, that can't be all you do. What are your duties?" he asked while they rounded a corner.

She sighed and looked over. Voon's face was reflected in her mask. "I'm a Seeker of Light. I seek out new sources of Light and try to find ways to defend against Darkness using Light. There is no more important duty than to Seek the Light."

"Doesn't sound like mediating," Voon said.

"No. I suppose not."


End file.
